Biting back ... Parenting in the spotlight as Rosemary and Kevin face elimination.

"Back off about his food for f--k's sake. I have been preparing his f--king meals."

These were the fiery words of Kevin's mother Rosemary, marking the moment the elimination turned ugly on Sunday night's episode of Ten's The Biggest Loser.

In a shocking turn of events, it seems that those who give the orders don't like to receive them.

"He doesn't sneak off to the kitchen and eat food," she continued raving to trainer Michelle Bridges, albeit with a few more expletives thrown in. Unfortunately for Rosemary the defence of her heavyweight son was misplaced this week as he himself admitted that he had been straying from the nutritional plan, which turns out is less of a plan and more of a rule book.

Saved ... Anita and Cher retain their places, only just.

Kevin's efforts - or lack thereof - were a source of constant frustration for the show's trainers. He memorably only kept his arm raised for 15 seconds in an activity earlier in the week, something his trainer Shannan Ponton said was due to a lack of mental toughness rather than a question of his physical abilities. (To prove the point, in a later training session Kevin - with much encouragement from Shannan - held his arm up for just over a minute. It's a marked improvement which still isn't saying much for his physical abilities).

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Michelle also did her hard yards, staging a mini intervention with Kevin during the week to confront him over his diet, a moment that treated viewers to black-and-white footage of Big Kev frying up some chicken. It turned out rather than grilling chicken breasts he instead was making what essentially was homemade fast food.

Still, it feels strange to nitpick over a man who has lost 15 kilograms in just three weeks. Last month Kevin entered The Biggest Loser as the show's heaviest contestant at 254.7kg and exited a few weeks later weighing 239.3kg.

Unfortunately for Kevin the rate of his weight loss had considerably slowed down with the last week accounting for only 2.2kg (still nothing to sneeze at for us regular non-TV folks).

"I was hoping for 7kg but was going to be disappointed with anything less than five," he said post weigh-in.

His mother accounted for even less, only losing around 200 grams.

Their lack of loss expressed them straight into the eliminations, along with mother and daughter team Anita and Cher who together lost less than three kilograms.

And soon it was time for the two teams to prove why they deserved to stay. The twist in the process (there's always a twist) was that the trainers - Michelle, Commando and Shannan - were ordered to decide who was destined for the chopping block, not the rival contestants. In a shocking turn of events, it seems that those who give the orders don't like to receive them.

They may not have used Rosemary's colourful language - trite and true seems more their measure - but the trainers proved just as obstinate when they effectively took their bat and ball and went home.

When push came to shove (see, I can do trite too) they refused to vote. They of course wanted to see Rosemary and Kevin go home, but they surely also knew that by not voting, Rosemary and Kevin would be out by default. This way they got to come across as nice guys while still getting the result they wanted. If this gig ever turns sour it seems they could also get a job in middle management.

They may have looked a picture of strength and solidarity but for all of their supposed toughness Shannan, Commando and Michelle failed to show any semblance of a spine. And for that I am awarding them the dubious honour of being the biggest losers.

As for Big Kev, he may be down and out but he isn't down and out, so to speak. He and his mother are busy training in hope of re-entering the competition. One feels Ten has all of its fingers and toes crossed for this as well.

We catch up with them four weeks later and Big Kev is not only eating tuna salad but he can now put on his own shoes without help.

"It's the little wins that keep me going," he says.

Hopefully we will see him again soon.

84 comments

Not too sure why his mum stood up for him

Commenter

BB

Location

Sydney

Date and time

April 08, 2013, 3:20PM

Enabler?

Commenter

frank

Location

Date and time

April 08, 2013, 4:03PM

His Mum is the problem

Commenter

Timbo

Location

Date and time

April 08, 2013, 4:07PM

Don't watch the show but was sucked in by the article. Some compassion would be good. There are reasons why people become fat and at such a young age not likely in his control. I truly hope that the psychologists used by the show know what they are doing because from the comments, the show sounds a lot like bullying. And in case you may be inclined to make assumptions about me, I weigh 65kg.

Commenter

Troppo

Location

Date and time

April 08, 2013, 4:54PM

Agree Troppo. It all feels really antagonistic to me. Why on earth do they weight them in their underwear? Clearly, their dignity is worth less than ratings. The whole thing is grotesque (and I'm not talking about the adipose tissue).

Commenter

Stacey

Location

Sydney

Date and time

April 08, 2013, 7:24PM

I can't believe he didn't stand up for himself and his mother didn't comprehend what the trainers were saying. He's definitely a step closer to his own death sadly

Commenter

Mel

Date and time

April 08, 2013, 9:41PM

Subconsciously his mother wants him to stay fat, so he will continue to be dependent on her.

Commenter

my take

Location

Date and time

April 08, 2013, 10:03PM

Get UK Jo child wisperer to have a go with mum and Kev. Bootcamp trainers could learn a thing or two from her. Who knows maybe even a double reality show.

Commenter

Amid

Date and time

April 08, 2013, 10:36PM

Troppo

If you haven't got your weight down to 64kg by next week, dont bother us with your opinion anymore.

Commenter

Master Blaster

Location

Date and time

April 09, 2013, 2:09AM

Troppo,As far as I'm aware, all contestants were exercising free will to go onto the show, and given that they applied in the first place, presumably they had at least some clue about the show.